


Persistence

by Arlessiar



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Based on a Trailer, Gen, Kingsman Spoilers, Oneshot, reaction fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 13:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10787967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlessiar/pseuds/Arlessiar
Summary: Eggsy Unwin comes back from dinner only to discover that the Kingsman shop and all he believes in has been destroyed.





	Persistence

**Author's Note:**

> Short reaction fic based on the trailer for Kingsman 2 as well as the snippet from the Statesman bourbon announcement. [Take a look at this wonderful gifset to get an impression of the scene.](http://kingsman-network.tumblr.com/post/159967774682/kingsman-the-golden-circle-2017)
> 
> Can be read as Merwin or as het/gen.

 

 

The debris made for an uneven ground to walk on and the fragments of wood, glass and concrete crunched under the sole of his sparkling clean Oxfords. Dust and dirt from the explosion would soon mix with the constantly falling rain and stain them. The umbrella he held upright like a torch shielded him from the worst of the heavy downpour, but in this moment, he couldn’t care less if he got wet and ruined his shoes or his expansive, slightly quirky suit or his perfectly coiffed hair. Right now, he was just lost for words, as he stared at the area of disaster in front of him.

Eggsy couldn’t believe his eyes.

Mere hours ago, this had been a tailor’s shop. A shop that had held a secret deep within, a whole different world of memories and mysteries. His workplace, plain as that, and yet so much more. Sometimes he felt as if he had been reborn here, on that night when a man had seen more in him than a lost boy with a predefined existence at the edge of society. He had stepped into a new life that night, and he had gained so much - meaning and a function, security and a sense of belonging. Eggsy thought he had paid for all of that already back then when on that hot day in Kentucky he had watched Death coming for someone Eggsy cared for with all his heart.

Now it seemed to him as if he was still paying.

Death once again lay before him, and his loss of words equaled the loss of life he faced. People had died here. Co-workers, friends, people that meant something to him, people he loved. Eggsy took in a shaky breath, his grip around the shaft of the umbrella tightened like a vice. He felt as if his world had broken down around him, and for a second he got lost in his fear. There was only darkness in front of him, and emptiness in his mind, and deep inside there was that sharp-edged, all too familiar pain. For a moment, he felt incredibly alone.  
And just like that, his mind started racing, the dark thoughts came pouring in like the falling rain. What had happened here? Who had done this? And the manor, goodness, the manor, was it safe? What could he do now, he had to do something, where…

 

No.

Eggsy let out the breath he hadn’t consciously been holding. He knew that he couldn’t let panic set in. It wouldn’t do. He was well-trained. He was a Kingsman. And he let the sound of the rain that was constantly drumming on his umbrella soothe him as his eyes took in the rubble and the shadows.

And then, there was a faint noise in the distance. Slow steps echoing in the dead silence of the aftermath of the demolition, dust and crushed bricks crackling with each footfall.  
Eggsy looked up. His eyes fell on a figure in the pale light of what had once been the back alley of a proud building. Eggsy reacted instinctively and drew his gun in a mere second and pointed it at the silhouette in front of him. His umbrella didn't waver for a second. The person stopped.

 

Merlin.

It was Merlin, and like a miracle he had appeared from seemingly nowhere, living up to his name again. Someone had survived. Merlin had survived. Tremendous relief flooded through Eggsy and he lowered his arm with the gun.  
Their gazes met, and for a long while, no-one moved and no-one spoke. It was just the two of them in the middle of loss and destruction and the pouring rain. Once more it was just them at the end of life as they knew it. For Eggsy, the irony was almost too much to bear.

It was as if their eyes were each other’s mirror. Grief. Defeat. Eggsy saw it in Merlin’s eyes and felt it so deep inside himself. He couldn’t think of a time when he had seen the other man like that before, almost reduced to tears. Merlin always had a plan, he always knew a way out. It was his job. It was who he was.

Right there in that very second, Eggsy made a decision. They had faced a hopeless situation once before, and they had dealt with it. They had fought and they had survived it, and they would do it again. There would be a time to let the sadness break through their walls and make its way into their hearts, but it was not now. Right now, they were both alive, and they were going to fight back. Not all was lost, not yet. They would come up with a plan, as they always did.

Eggsy swallowed hard, and his lips became a thin line as he used the pain he felt inside to steel himself for the task at hand.

Before though, they would have a toast for those they’d lost. It was their tradition, and no bomb and no missile could take their traditions away from them. And if they’d get hopelessly drunk because of the sheer amount of drinks they’d have to take, then he welcomed that thought like one would welcome a thick, soft blanket on a wet, cold night.

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Additional A/N:  
> I adore Roxy beyond belief and she was a vital part of their victory in the first film, but in the end, it was still Merlin and Eggsy who watched Harry die (I don't count Arthur the traitor) and Merlin and Eggsy who were on their own in Valentine's bunker, and that's what I'm alluding to in this fic. :)
> 
> You can find me on tumblr: http://arlessiar.tumblr.com


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